Amegakure (Zawazambe)
Amegakure (雨隠れの里, Amegakure no Sato; Literally meaning "Village Hidden by Rain") is a small, yet highly industrialised hidden village located in an unnamed country. Its architecture is composed of several metallic skyscrapers with rowed ducts connected to them and many power lines surrounding. A number of smaller villages also surround Amegakure. As its name suggests, it rains almost constantly due to a storm above the village. There are many ninja from this village who are skilled genjutsu users. It is a hidden village that one by one raises the ability of its shinobi, in turn working out original techniques. They also developed assassination techniques, getting numerous requests from foreign countries because of this. History For many years, Amegakure was led by ; he led Amegakure's forces against during the . Despite the fact that Hanzō had a huge presence on the battlefield, such that he slaughtered an entire Konoha platoon and allowed ninja as powerful as the young to live when they managed to hold their own against him, Amegakure lost the war. Amegakure's location between three of the has caused it to serve as a battleground during the various ninja wars, making most of its population war refugees. Amegakure has adopted a heavy isolationist policy because of this, leading to the village's defences to be abnormally impenetrable. To be admitted to the village, visitors, even those coming for held in Amegakure, must go through a number of security checks and are under constant surveillance during their stay. Even Hanzō, despite his strength was paranoid and constantly feared being assassinated and as such was rarely seen in public. During the , a from Amegakure began advocating peace. When their enough, Hanzō saw this as a threat to his rule. He allied with of to have the Akatsuki eliminated. Hanzō lured them to an ambush by claiming to be interested in their ideas and , the group's public leader was killed. tried to take revenge on Hanzō, but succeeded only in killing the other Amegakure ninja present as well as all of Danzō's personnel as Hanzō escaped the slaughter. Nagato, adopting the alias of , soon began a civil war within Amegakure. Forces loyal to his new ideas for the village wore an Amegakure headband with a horizontal slash through the middle, showing their rejection of the former Amegakure leadership and principles. Pain eventually single-handedly killed Hanzō as well as everyone even remotely affiliated with him. He similarly slaughters any remnants loyal to Hanzō that tried to sneak back into the village to assassinate him. Pain's effectiveness has caused the villagers of Amegakure to regard him as a god. The people of Amegakure began to refer to Pain as "Lord Pain", and to who assisted Pain, as "Lady Angel". During Nagato's reign, he used a technique that made it every Sunday or whenever he had to leave the village. The special rain was connected to his senses, and allowed him to sense intruders who tried to enter the village, making infiltration impossible without being detected. After Nagato's death, assumes the duties of Amegakure's leader and swears the village's allegiance to , but she falls in battle against , who came to retrieve Nagato's . Knowledge of Amegakure's civil war was not common throughout the ninja world, and the fate of Hanzō himself was completely unknown to the point that other villages believed him to still be in charge. Because Pain uses the village as his base of operations for Akatsuki, Jiraiya was able to spread news of these developments during the course of his investigation into the organisation. Pain later went to Konohagakure to try to capture Naruto and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox respectively, after killing Jiraiya. He effectively destroys the majority of Konoha's infrastructure and kills many of its citizens. Later, he is convinced by Naruto's determination and ideals so he decides to revive those who he recently killed using the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique. In this village it rains almost constantly except for when Pain would stop the rain. The only natural incidence of the rain ending was during Konan's fight with Tobi who had come to retrieve the Rinnegan. After Konan's death, however, it is unknown who leads the village. New Era Following the , though it played no part in the conflict, Amegakure suffered great losses. Their God was slain before the war after his attack on Konohagakure, nearly decimating the entire village in the process, while their Lady Angel was slain in battle against a member of the terrorist group - a corrupt version of the rebel group that once brought freedom to the Hidden Rain. In the wake of war, Amegakure needed a leader, which allowed for Kōga Nanamaō (a former highborn Lord during the reign of Hanzō the Salamander) to rise up as a political leader of Amegakure. Few enjoyed or desired Kōga's rule, but having forced himself into the position, none truly argued. Kōga was a man with great ambitions, seeking to become an economic superpower, which could only be achieved through very non-nationalistic means. Kōga began to establish relations with the neighboring villages of and - both of which shared their contempt for the surrounding Shinobi Countries who used their nations as a standing ground for their past wars. Amegakure was not willing to submit now that the world suddenly wanted peace, after having endured strife and terror at the hand of the very nations suing for peace. and the were quick to call for an end to Amegakure's ambitious ideas, believing that they meant to start a conflict that they themselves could never finish. Afraid of the threat of an all out invasion and subsequent occupation, Amegakure backed down willingly and ended their alliance talks with Kusagakure and Ishigakure. At least, they ended their open talks. Through secret meetings and heavily coded messages, Amegakure managed to secure an alliance with Kusagakure who were a major exporter of agriculture for the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind (though the Land of Wind had grown very dependent on greenhouses in recent years). When this new found alliance comes to light, Iwagakure calls for an immediate end once again. This time, however, Amegakure claims that their actions are only in the name of the idea of unity and camaraderie which had been reinforced in the wake of the Fourth Great Shinobi World War - leaving Iwagakure to watch helplessly as Amegakure grew stronger. Kōga Nanamaō died three years after the initial alliance began, without an obvious successor. Kōga was by no means a revolutionary for the Hidden Rain, though his political mastery allowed for a strong alliance to be negotiated which would pave the way for the next leader to fill his shoes. Engetsu Kirimato was named the Leader of Amegakure and once more, Iwagakure appeals against the Kusa/Ame alliance. When the Land of Wind refuses to intervene, Iwagakure makes an advance and invades Kusagakure, looking to depose its leader and take control of their agriculture on their own (after Kusagakure began to raise the price, manipulating Iwagakure as they went, for they were desperate for food). This move allowed for Ishigakure to enter the fray, who had long since been pawns of the Land of Earth. Ishigakure applied for the removal of the Land of Earth to none other than the Four other Great Shinobi Nations - both Daimyō and Kage - who forced an end to Amegakure and Kusagakure's activities. This included a the demilitarization of Amegakure, the occupation and forced collection of a portion of Kusagakure's yearly crops, and the occupation of Ishigakure. Engetsu Kirimato was deposed as leader and a shinobi of Iwagakure was dispatched to act as 'leader' until all was well in the three nations. Yama no Enma is installed as leader, and under his rule, Amegakure faced great terror. He was a tyrant - ruthless and careless for the lives of Amegakure citizens. He instructed his men to destroy their property and to take their women for their own, and under Yama no Enma, the market began to suffer as well. Amegakure was facing great strife and without a God to protect them, it was up the people to raise up. The demons came in the night. Masked men calling themselves Oni began attacking the Iwagakure troops utilizing guerrilla warfare - keeping to the villages surrounding the main village itself and in some cases, even attacking major points in the city. Enma had claimed the Tower of their God as his own seat when he came to power, defiling the seat of their savior, leaving them with little option. Oni destroys Pain's Tower - though Enma lives, but he is far from happy. The Second Amegakure Civil War officially breaks out as more villagers join Oni's cause - fighting against the shinobi of Iwagakure who now occupy the streets of Amegakure. Kusagakure too rises in rebellion, following the death of a noblewoman's daughter who was quite beloved by the people of Kusagakure. The Amegakure Liberation Party is formed, signalling the start of the Civil War. Landmarks * * The Angel's Perch * The Crypts * The Riverways Trivia * Many characters from Amegakure, such as and , have been seen using umbrellas that have hidden weapon mechanisms in them. Also, many shinobi from this village wear simple rebreathers.